Oristano

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San Palmerio ad Oristano

Oristano is a modern looking city, though preserving numerous testimonies of its past, which are mainly visible in the Cathedral, a 13th century construction with an 18th century style, the tower of Saint Christopher and Porta Manna (1291). But the past is also revisited in the Arborense Antiquarum, with a dedicated archaeological, judicial and artistic section (Palazzo Parpaglia, Piazza Corrias; tel.: 0783 791262; opening hours: all days from 9 am to 14 pm, and from 15 pm to 20 pm).
In the Sardinian folklore, Oristano is best known for the Sartiglia, a famous horse race left in heritage by the Catalans. In the city surroundings it is possible to visit the Romanic church of S.Giusta, about ten kilometres south of the city in proximity of the sea. It was built in 1135-45 by Pisan artists, and it is one of the numerous testimonies of the Romanic-Pisan school in Sardinia, which is the prevailing style in the North, West and South parts of the island, while the Genoese school dominates the Eastern part, according to the areas of influence established by the Marine Republics of Pisa and Genoa in the 11th century.
Just outside Oristano another attraction deserves a visit: the Pond of Cabras, the largest pond of the territory, and one of the most important wet areas of Sardinia, hosting a lot of different species of water birds, among which the beautiful pink flamingo. On these waters fishermen have been using until recent times the archaic rush boats called fassonis. The archaeologicalfinds on the little island of Cuccuru is Arrius, on the southern bank, testify that this area has been populated since remote ages. Beyond the pond, the peninsula of Sinis stretches on the west side, which is part, together with the Island of Mal di Ventre, of the Natural Marine Reservation.

And here we get to a place that, more than any other, deserves to be visited: on the southern edge of the peninsula lie the ruins of the ancient Punic city of Tharros, possibly the most beautiful archaeological site of Sardinia, even more suggestive because it is set in the middle of a sea environment of rare beauty